Reversible growth-mode transition in SrRuO3 epitaxy

It is known that a transition from layer-by-layer (LbL) to step-flow (SF) can occur at the earliest stages of SrRuO(3) growth on SrTiO(3)(001). We report here the observation of a reversible transition between these two-dimensional growth modes that can occur at any SrRuO(3) thickness, tuned by short growth interruption. We show that under SF mode, growth interruption allows step-edge straightening, thus resulting in enhanced island nucleation on locally wider terraces and reduced adatom incorporation at step edges. As a result, the LbL mode is recovered. This reversible transition critically influences the growing-layer morphology and is of crucial interest in epitaxial-heterostructure fabrication. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.